02 // The Wacko's Murder Device.
W r e n ☪
I was going crazy.
I thought it had all been my mind's crazy creations. Nightmares from my deluded brain, but this was more; so much more. They said it was apart of the sickness healing inside, that I was nothing more than traumatised from it, and one day, it will slowly fade until those dreams are nothing more than a memory.
It's been six years since they told me that lie, and if anything, my nightmares have gotten worse. The visions I've had to live through are growing, so much that you can't even label that as the after effects of going through what I did. They're not even closely related to when they started. Those can be labelled a nightmare; the classic bed-wetting dreams only children can get after watching some scary movie.
The night I saw Liam out on the hill, I'd woken up sweating from one of the worst ones yet. Every time, It's like an old fashioned movie, reeling in my mind, or a quick slide show that only shows snippets of the most important things. My snippets?
Well they involved what he called himself as a Wendigo, an unknown mute man with an electronic typer, and then there was Scott, the werewolf. I hadn't known the guy went to my school, and I certainly couldn't recognise him not in his wolf-state.
Until a few hours ago, of course.
My mind is supposed to just be messed up. I should not be seeing the things I dream about in real life. The doctors all joked yesterday about me visiting more often, when maybe I actually should be getting checked again.
Right now, to say I'm scared out of my mind would be an understatement, a big one. And not just because I'm walking home in the dead of the night, the really cold night. Seeing as my bike's at school, and that Stiles guy drove us to the hospital, I was left without a ride.
I don't know where Liam is right now, but I hope he's safe with Scott. I can tell the poor guy only wanted to help him, even if it meant biting his arm like some crazy man. I don't even know how I know what Scott is, I've been trying to push anything supernatural to the back of my mind for the time being, since I'm walking down a creepy road alone and all.
But pushing that back meant focusing on the guilt; when Liam asked me that question, I freaked and ran. I didn't want the one person who actually wanted to talk to me know about the things I see, and if they've seen me back, so I had gotten up, backed away from my injured friend, and well, ran.
I feel bad, I do, but I think he was better off with Scott anyway, at least I hope. As I neared the turn that would lead to my home, I had focused my mind on one certain thing. Before he was brutally murdered, of course, what did the Wendigo call me?
Because it sounded a heck of a lot like Witch.
-
"Wren, I've got to duck down to the office real quick, I'll see you in a bit," my dad popped his head in through the crack of my door, and even from here a I could see the tired bags under his eyes. My dad was a lawyer, and he was always working. I know that mum leaving was hard on him, but we both know that he's too stressed and tired for his own good. That, and we both know I won't see him until the morning.
As soon as he left I heard the door knock, and I immediately assumed he'd forgotten something. So I walked down the hall from my bedroom to the front door, calling out, "Dad, if you've forgotten your keys, I think it's a sign that you're too tired!"
But then I opened the door, and saw that it in fact was not my dad. Instead it was the last person I'd expected, because there stood Liam, looking annoyingly attractive in the moonlight. Despite the fact that he was out of breath and sweating, with a bandage where Scott had bitten him. "Can I come in?"
"I-uh-ye-sure," I stuttered out, incredibly flustered. I opened the door completely, and stood off to the side so he could walk in. He entered slowly, and took his time looking around. There wasn't much to see, no precious family photos or anything special; it was really just junk lying around. Breaking the awkward silence, I spoke. "Uh, sorry about the mess. If I had known someone was coming I woul-,"
"It's fine, I like it, a lot." I knew he was just being nice, because who would really like this dump?
"Thanks?" It came out more like a question than I'd meant, but he ignored it.
"Look, I uh, I'm sorry about this. I just- I didn't know where to go, and I'm sort of losing my mind," He took a deep breath, before continuing. "I think I just need someone to say that I'm not crazy, because at the moment I'm not so sure."
"You're not crazy, Liam."
He looked up, and our eyes met. A saw the small smile creep onto his face before he stepped forward and put his arms around me. At first I was shocked, really shocked; no one has ever just hugged me before, especially not someone I've just met.
But to say I didn't like it would a be a pretty big lie. It was cold outside, but Liam, he was warm. Even though he was in his blood-stained training gear from lacrosse earlier, I don't think I'd change a thing.
I know it had only been a few seconds, not even, but it felt like an eternity before he pulled away. Before it felt suddenly cold again. "I-I'm sorry I-,"
"It's fine, totally okay," I nodded along, breathing out. I slapped myself on the inside for my choice of words. Totally? God Wren, this is not 2005.
Liam noticed it, because a second later he broke out into a grin, barely containing the laughter that came with it. My face went red, so I attempted to, very poorly, change the subject. "So, did you want something, or?"
"Look, this is probably going to sound weird, but after everything that happened tonight, what the hell? Clumsy, I can't go back home. At least, not tonight. Honestly, I'm scared-but, if you tell anyone that I'll deny it-I, uh, I know we only just met, but you were the only one at the hospital, the only one that half-knows what's happening-,"
He stopped, staring wide-eyed at me, before shaking his head. "Crap, I'm sorry - I shouldn't of come - stupid idea - I'll just g-,"
"Liam," as he was two seconds away from the front door, I grabbed his hand. "Did you need a place to stay?"
-
"I brought blankets!" I walked into my bedroom, after disappearing for a few seconds into our small linen cupboard.
Liam was sat on the edge of my bed, his elbows resting on his knees, and his head down. He looked up when I spoke though, with a small smile on his face.
I dropped the blankets and pillow on the floor. "Okay so you can take the bed; I'm pretty sure you need the mattress way more than I do,"
I got down on my knees and started spreading out the sheets so it was somewhat comfy. When I looked up, Liam was staring at me pretty much like I was crazy. A light bulb turned on inside my head, whether it was the right one, I'm not so sure. "Oh, sorry! Did you want to borrow one of my dad's old shirts? I get it, I wouldn't want to sleep in that either,"
A second of silence passed before Liam burst out laughing. He fell backwards onto the bed, landing on his back as his hand rested on his stomach, trying to contain the laughter. He sat up after a few moments, and I stared at him confused. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he spoke shakily, "Clumsy, you really are clueless."
I raised an eyebrow at him, because I was utterly lost. He noticed it, so he shook his head and said, "you're not sleeping on the floor."
"No seriously, I've fallen onto it heaps of times, sometimes I don't even wake up! Perfectly comfortable," I shrugged.
Liam shook his head, pushing his elf off of the bed and onto the floor, so he was facing me cross-legged. "If anybody's sleeping on the floor, it's me."
"Liam! Seriously, it's fine. Plus, at this rate, we won't be getting much sleep," I gestured to the clock beside my bed, reading 2:56.
"Well, you leave me no choice," he sighed dramatically, getting up from the floor, and picked me up, as if I didn't weight a thing, from my crouching position, and dropped me on the bed. He smirked, "all sorted."
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Liam, get your butt on that bed!"
Before he could protest I sat myself down on the pile of blankets on the floor, smirking victoriously. He rolled his eyes, muttering, "God, you're stubborn."
He plopped himself down on my bed, and I made myself comfortable on the floor. A few moments of silence past, where the only thing that filled the air were Liam's light breaths. I'm pretty sure we both knew that we couldn't sleep, but who could blame us? What happened last night was pretty traumatic in itself. Liam's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Wren?"
"Yeah?"
I heard him shuffle over, "don't sleep on the floor, please."
-
Someone clearing their throat at my door woke me up.
I yawned from the lack of sleep, while my eyes adjusted to the light. I looked at my clock once everything had un-blurred; it read 7:34. Okay, that's weird. I've never had this much of a sleep in, not since I was seven. Not that I'm complaining, of course. I went to move out of bed, but saw that in fact I could not, as someone's arm was draped across my stomach.
I nearly flipped.
It was a loose hold, one I could easily just lift and slide out, but my mind was in over-load thinking about who the hell it belonged to. And just as my mind processed last night's events, and a certain boy named Liam, I made the mistake of looking at my door.
There stood my dad, a stern look on his face and his arms crossed. The sight of him him gave me so much of a shock that I fell out of the bed, letting out an awkward yelp as my butt hit the floor and my head hit the side of my bed.
"What?" Liam sat up startled, with a panicked look on his face. From the floor, I almost wanted to laugh, if it wasn't for the pain coming from my back-side.
"Wren, uh, I believe I said I'd be out for a few minutes last night," he coughed awkwardly. Part of me felt angry at that moment, for we both knew that whenever he said a few minutes, he meant a few hours.
I slapped my hand to my face in annoyance, and was just about to come up with a snarky response when Liam jumped out of the bed. He ruffled his hair a bit, before sticking it out in front of my dad. "Hi," he grinned. "I'm Liam."
"Oh God," I muttered to myself, pulling self up with the help of my bed. Dad hadn't responded to Liam; he sort of just stood there staring at Liam's hand, a did he didn't know what to do with it. "Dad, I swear it isn't what it looked like."
"Yeah, uh, okay," dad shook his head turning from the door, stopping before he disappeared from my view. He pointed a finger at Liam. "But don't you touch my little girl again. I gotta head to work, but you better not be here when I get back."
I laughed. "Dad, we have school!"
Liam ignored me, "yes, sir!"
Little girl? Sir? Okay, this whole situation was just weird, but I had to admit it made me happy seeing my dad like that, I'm not going to lie. By the time I looked back at the door, my dad was gone, and the front door had slammed.
Liam coughed, filling the silence. "Well, that was slightly awkward."
-
Liam went home to get a change of clothes for school, rushing out quickly. I couldn't really blame him, I mean, my dad just went full, well, dad on him. He said he'd meet me at school, hugged me, and said thanks. Every single one of those things gave me little butterflies in my stomach.
I sighed standing in my room. Walking over to my book, which was lying closed on the dresser. I opened it, and let a small smile appear on my face. I hadn't had any visions last night; the first night in nine years. For once, the canvas remained blank on the latest page.
A searing pain in my head caused me to slam my book shut, dropping it and bringing my hands to my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, as images flooded the darkness inside. There was a girl, she seemed no older than me, with a burning wire in her hands, and was wrapping it around a man's neck. Any tighter and it would, it would chop off completely.
And then it stopped, and I shuddered. I'm not supposed to get them when I'm awake, I'm not even supposed to get them at all.
I opened my drawers, with my clothes thrown messily inside, and tried to focus I what to wear. In the end, even though I really couldn't focus, I decided on a pair of faded jeans and my favourite flower shirt. It was nice, but it wouldn't attract attention. Not that anyone ever noticed me, anyways.
As I grabbed my notebook and jingling bag from the floor, I couldn't ignore the bad feeling any longer.
I knew something terrible was going to happen, and something told me it would be tonight.
-
I don't normally catch the bus. Hell, I try to stay as far away as possible from it, and the people on it, but considering my way of transportation is back at school, I had no other choice. I had chosen my seat at the back, as far away as everyone else as possible. Everyone here was mostly freshman, considering we couldn't drive, but there were a few older kids, too.
Moving my gaze from the window, I turned my head diagonally, letting my eyes wander over the nameless students that were probably in my grade. I froze, my breath hitching in my throat when I saw a certain girl glaring at me. I recognised her instantly, her eyes just as cold as the ones from my vision earlier. I didn't know what to do, so I panicked. In an attempt to go unnoticed, I slid down in my seat and tried to shield my face with my hair.
I don't think it worked.
When the bus came to a halt outside the school, and we all made our way off, me being last, of course, I kept my eyes trained on the back of that girl's head. She was holding hands with another guy, whom I'm assuming was in my year also. I'm not really sure, actually; I go unnoticed by them, and they go unnoticed by me. There was another boy, awkwardly third-wheeling, with them, and I actually recognised him from chemistry.
I think, at least.
The girl had turned her body for a split second, making the long necklace around her neck swing across, giving a clear view. I stopped suddenly, causing a few angry mutters from the people around me, but all I could focus on was that I had seen that necklace before. In my vision, to be exact. That was the wacko's murdering device.
Then I heard voices talking, as my eyes moved from the couple walking away, to searching for owners of the voices. They had to be close by, it sounded like they were right next to me. When the other person replied, I recognised him instantly as Liam.
"I, uh, I ran," he said, panting, and my eyes widened in shock as I saw they were standing a while away from me.
How in the heck could I hear that so clearly?
Liam didn't look so good. He was sweating and he couldn't keep his balance. He doubled over, leaning against the school's metal fence for support. Instantly I rushed over to them, recognising his friend as the awkward third-wheeler.
"Dang, are you - are you okay?" His friend asked, as I appeared by his side.
"I-I'll talk to you later, I-we gotta get to class," he grabbed my arm and pulled me away with him. Being Clumsy Wren, I managed to trip over my own feet, but just before I hit the ground, Liam's arm wrapped around me.
"T-thanks," I muttered, my cheeks going red.
"It's fine, c'mon," he said with a small smile, before ushering me into an empty hall, checking around worriedly, as if someone was following us. I heard the doors open behind us, and started to think that maybe someone really was after us, and caught up to Liam quickly.
"Liam, hey!" It was Stiles; the jeep-obsessed boy.
"We need to talk!" Scott literally appeared out of nowhere. So obviously my thoughts were wrong, and Scott did not manage to help Liam last night.
"No, you need to back the hell away from me!" Liam yelled, pushing me behind him.
"Just listen for one second," Scott said, and I felt Liam hesitate. "Please."
Stiles turned to me, "could you give us a moment please?"
Well, at least he said please. "Uh, yeah, sure." I muttered, "I'll see you around, Liam."
-
I was just walking to lunch, well, sort of. I never eat in the cafeteria, or at all, really. All those students in the one place just scares me, so I usually sit by a little tree I like to call my own. Considering no one even notices it.
I let out an awkward yelp when someone had grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into an empty classroom. I turned to see Lydia Martin, a popular junior, staring back at me. I freed my hand from her right grip, rubbing it in pain.
"Wren, hi. I'm Lydia Martin, but you most likely knew that," she smiled, and I really couldn't tell if it was genuine or fake.
"I'm just going to say it; I know what you are, sweetie. I know to you get strange visions, sweet hearing, and a whole lot of other freaky stuff. Don't ask me how, because not even I know," she said in one breath, and I was too scared to even blink or breathe. Not just because she was incredibly intimidating, but because she knew all of that. She wasn't supposed to know that, nobody was. I hadn't told a soul.
"Don't worry, you're not going crazy. Maybe a little mad, but honestly, we all are, especially me," I breathed out a bit at that, at least she did have a nice tone. "I've never heard of what you are existing in real life, but I can teach you how to control it, and I really don't know how I know, but I do. Which is ironic considering I can barely control mine."
I raised an eyebrow, what did she mean? What was she?
"What I'm saying is; Wren, I'll teach you teach you all I know, about the supernatural, if you can just do me this one little favour."
-
Soo sorry for the wait with this! Every time I thought it was ready, I'd go back and change something ! Plus, school's been a butt.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, next one's the party! And, what do you think of Lydia and Wren? As their friendship grows I want Lydia to sort of be a big sister for Wren.
Anyways, feel free to point out any mistakes, and vote, comment, enjoy!!
Kat, xoxo